Best of the 90's - Non Wrestlers

[IrishCanadian25]

It's a SPECIAL DAY for the folks here at WZ Forums, as I am making up for lost time with a rare 2-bagger post for Best of the 90's. Since two days ago I posted Best of the 90's - Wrestlers, I am happy to also provide Best of the 90's - Non Wrestlers. Below are 9 choices of non-wrestlers who made significant contributions to Wrestling / Sports Entertainment in the golden decade of wrestling.

1. Vince McMahon. I've mentioned in the movie threads how Al Pacino's portrayl of Michael Corleone depicts the greatest antagonistic character development in cinema history - from war hero to brother murdering scum. If pro wrestling were a film, Vince McMahon in the 90's would have challenged Corleone. In the early 90's, we watched Vince the announcer, in our kayfabe worlds thinking Jack Tunney ACTUALLY ran the WWF. We watched Vince screw Bret Hart, become an iconoclastic heel, and then begin the feud with Steve Austin. Millions of fans who had turned away from wrestling tuned back in because Vince captured every fan's inner hatred of the evil boss figure and Austin's battle against him. Vince was a master at getting crowd reaction without wrestling.

2. Joey Styles. I respect what Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler do, working live Raw shows each week and keeping excitement and intregue up. Well, in the 90's, Styles carried entire ECW shows and PPV's by himself. From his descriptions of hardcore or high flying or even pure technical wrestling moves to the legendary "OH MY GAAAWWWDDD!" Styles became the voice of the 3rd promotion, and it's been said that he was a major reason there even WAS a 3rd promotion.

3. Paul Heyman. From his humble beginnings as leader of WCW's "Dangerous Alliance" to his job running ECW and standing on the front lines in the battle to break down the kayfabe wall, Paul did two things no other wrestling promoters had done- he empowered the fans with knowledge, and he empowered the wrestlers with creativity. He created the training and proving grounds for dozens of stars on the ring, some of whom we know and love today. Heyman captured the loyalty of his athletes as well as his fans, building a small empire from nothing with bare hands and unmatched honesty.

4. Jim Ross. We know him as the voice of Raw, but the Sooner alum has had his share of ups and downs with pro wrestling, and to this day stands as one of it's most influential figures. Ross debuted in the WWF at Wrestlemania 9, and was subsequently fired and rehired twice in the next couple years. In 1996 he made a "heel turn" and brought an imposter Deisel and Razor Ramon to the WWF, all the while breaking the kayfabe wall himself and announcing to the world for the first time on TV that Vince McMahon was WWE's chairman. Few top-flight ain events were not called by Ross. The end of the 90's led up to Ross's team with Jerry Lawler during the Monday Night Wars and eventual job as VP of Talent Relations.

5. Paul Bearer. Whereas many managers in the WWF would manage a number of athletes, during most of the 90's Bearer had one man - The Undertaker - and managed him in a way that his character could never be diminished. As a creepy almost Addams Family-esque Funeral Parlor Director, Bearer suckered Hulk Hogan into a classic sneak attack and helped lead his man to the WWF Title in a win over Hogan. Bearer's character enhancement helped Taker win 5 consecutive "Best Gimmick" awards from the Wrestling Observer.

6. Jim Cornette. Regarded by many, myself included, as the greatest manager and microphone performer in pro wrestling, Cornette managed tag teams in WWF and SMW, as well as acting as the mouth peice for uber-heel champion Yokozuna, acting as his "American Spokesperson." Cornette began and ran the somewhat successful Smokey Mountain Wrestling territory in the early 90's, helping launch such careers as Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Kane, Chris Candido, The Road Dogg, Bob Holly, Al Snow, and the Heavenly Bodies.

7. Miss Elizabeth. The First lady of the WWF, Liz had a tumultuous end to the 80's with her split from Randy Savage leading up to Wrestlemania 8, but her appearance at Summer Slam to save Savage from Sherri and subsequent wedding to Savage (real life and kayfabe) relaunched her into mainstream. After divorcing Savage, Liz again showed up in WCW to work with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Lex Luger.

8. Sherri Martel. Martel managed some of the best in the 90's, especially Shawn Michaels. With the early 90's kicking off with her turning on Randy Savage and going to Michaels, Sherri launched herself as the most influential female manager in wrestling. She would go on to become "Sister Sherri" with WCW's Harlem Heat in the later part of the 90's, including a hilarious feud with Col. Rob Parker.

9. Eric Bischoff. Bichoff, along with Tony Schiavone, was the voice of WCW during the Monday Night Wars. Starting as an announcer, Eric actually worked UNDER Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross in WCW. His meteoric rise through the WCW ranks included stops at VP, EVP / General Manager, and eventually President. It was Bischoff who convinced Ted Turner to throw some real money and TV Time behind the wrestling shows, allowing Eric to go out and buy the likes of Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. Of course, Eric famously launched the idea of the nWo and joined the faction after being jack-knifed through a table by Kevin Nash.

10. OTHER. Who am I missing!? Please detail your answer and back it up, I'd love to know what you are thinking!

 

[Lil Wes]

This is simple. Vince McMahon without a doubt. He is one of the greatest heels of all time and the whole Mr. McMahon character = Ratings. It seems like everytime he is back on TV, it is so much better. No matter how much people bitch about his long promos, it is no lie that they are classics. His feud with Austin was IMO the best feud of the 90's. Plus add all of the classic matches, promos and factions throughtout the Attitude Era and until this day. The evil boss was classic but you can't forget his work behind the announce table neither. McMahon never gets old, he's a legend.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

an easy, easy selection to me. Vince, by far and away.

Lets start at the creation reality ystandpoint. Vince ran the whoke thing!!! LOL!!! He kept wrestlemania growing and growing, and staged the first ever international one in toronto in 1990....found a way to defeat WCW, and allowed the growth of austin, DX, and the whole attitude era. He works tirelessly to make the WWE what it is.

The other easy standpoint, is his on screen character, arguably the greatest heel of all time. Contiually sacrifices his body taking huge bumps, and is a CEO billionaire who is willing to make a complete fool of himself on a pretty regular basis, for the good of his company.everyone in this poll either worked, works, or ended up working for Mcmahon, so that, in itself, should answe the question.

 

[RKO Orton]

Like these guys said above, it was easily McMahon. Vince took the heel character to a whole new level. He was always hated by the fans and did his character well. Let's not forget what he did backstage also. He was the person that eventually defeated the WWE's arch-rival WCW. That alone gets my vote.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I don't think this is as easy as many of you are making it out to be.

I voted for Eric Bischoff, for the simple fact that Vince was already in power heading IN to the 90's. Eric Bischoff single handedly turned around a major promotion and launched the Monday Night Wars.

A guy gets hired as an announcer and is the underling of Tony Schiavone. He VERY rapidly gets promoted into a Vice Presidents role, and now the people who managed him are HIS subordinates. Bischoff sits down with Ted freaking Turner and gets him to commit MILLIONS of dollars to sign top stars AWAY from Vince McMahon AND gets him to commit two hours to do a Prime Time Monday night show. He then stages the ultimate coup, hiring Hulk Hogan, the biggest star in wrestling history, in 1994.

Bischoff pulled off the Hogan vs Flair match that Vince never could. He got Medusa to show up on Nitro and toss the WWF Women's belt into the trash. He took WCW to 12 Pay Per Views a year, which Vince followed on after.

Bischoff launched the most successful angle in wrestling history - the nWo and Hogan's heel turn, to totally turn wrestling upside down. He set a stage for a star like Bill Goldberg and had the gall to add fuel to the Monday Night fire by announcing Raw's results on the air.

WCW really failed after the turn of the Century, but in the 90's, it was the advent of Eric Bischoff and his brainchildren to launch the Monday Night Wars that really made this all happen. Without Bischoff's innovations and tactics, WWE would never have gone "edgy" and Vince McMahon may never have developed into an on-screen character. If WCW wasn't competitive, Bret Hart doesn't get hired away and the screwjob never happens, which means no "Bret Screwed Bret" speech. YES, McMahon was a huge part of the 90's, but lots of his activity in the 90's was as a reaction to Eric Bischoff.

Eric Bischoff was the most important non-wrestler in the 1990's.

 

[Slyfox696]

I don't think this is as easy as many of you are making it out to be.

I voted for Eric Bischoff, for the simple fact that Vince was already in power heading IN to the 90's. Eric Bischoff single handedly turned around a major promotion and launched the Monday Night Wars.

A guy gets hired as an announcer and is the underling of Tony Schiavone. He VERY rapidly gets promoted into a Vice Presidents role, and now the people who managed him are HIS subordinates. Bischoff sits down with Ted freaking Turner and gets him to commit MILLIONS of dollars to sign top stars AWAY from Vince McMahon AND gets him to commit two hours to do a Prime Time Monday night show. He then stages the ultimate coup, hiring Hulk Hogan, the biggest star in wrestling history, in 1994.

Bischoff pulled off the Hogan vs Flair match that Vince never could. He got Medusa to show up on Nitro and toss the WWF Women's belt into the trash. He took WCW to 12 Pay Per Views a year, which Vince followed on after.

Bischoff launched the most successful angle in wrestling history - the nWo and Hogan's heel turn, to totally turn wrestling upside down. He set a stage for a star like Bill Goldberg and had the gall to add fuel to the Monday Night fire by announcing Raw's results on the air.

WCW really failed after the turn of the Century, but in the 90's, it was the advent of Eric Bischoff and his brainchildren to launch the Monday Night Wars that really made this all happen. Without Bischoff's innovations and tactics, WWE would never have gone "edgy" and Vince McMahon may never have developed into an on-screen character. If WCW wasn't competitive, Bret Hart doesn't get hired away and the screwjob never happens, which means no "Bret Screwed Bret" speech. YES, McMahon was a huge part of the 90's, but lots of his activity in the 90's was as a reaction to Eric Bischoff.

Eric Bischoff was the most important non-wrestler in the 1990's.

You raise many many good points, but you forgot one major one.

Eric Bischoff was Mr. McMahon before Vince was.


The evil boss was Eric Bischoff in 1996-1998, and long before Vince's heel turn. I mean really, Vince only had 2 years where he made significant contribution to the wrestling business, 1998 and 1999. Eric Bischoff, like you said, patched the leaky financial problems of WCW, and took it from near bankruptcy to financial monster. He was responsible for bringing the most successful angle of the 1990s to WCW, even if he did steal the idea. And while 1998 and 1999 were blundered so badly by Bischoff it got him fired and killed WCW, there is no doubt that Bischoff was just as responsible for its rise as he was its fall.

And, as said earlier, Eric Bischoff brought the evil boss persona to wrestling long before Vince did.


As much as I hate the guy, and hate what he did to WCW, I have to vote for him as non-wrestler of the 90s.

 

[Father:_Polley]

Like these guys said above, it was easily McMahon. Vince took the heel character to a whole new level. He was always hated by the fans and did his character well. Let's not forget what he did backstage also. He was the person that eventually defeated the WWE's arch-rival WCW. That alone gets my vote.

I wouldn't say it was Vince defeated WCW. It destroyed itself by trying to stay with what had worked in the past and not building up anyone to replace the aging roster.

yeah, Vince is good at what he does...but as IC25 has pointed out, Bischoff was inovative and had the testicular fortitude to take the fight to wwf in new ways. ok - telling the fans mick foley winning the title was going to put asses in seats may have back-fired, but he forced change in wwf such as raw going live and accidentally sending someone with no future to vince who created stone cold steve austin.

he aimed big, acheived and then crashed big. but bischoff still gets my vote

 

[HBK-aholic]

Vince McMahon is the most important non-wrestler period. Never mind just in the 90's. Without him sports entertainment wouldn't be what it is today; it wouldn't be the thing we all know and love. Vince McMahon is the guy with all the ideas. He's the one who makes the stars we watch it for what they are; and without him the likes of HBK, John Cena, The Undertaker etc would be nothing to us.

Vince McMahon is the reason we watch the WWE because he is the brains behind all the reasons we watch it. Whether it's looks, technical ability, crowd heat etc, he's the reason they are on the TV in front of us at that moment.

 

[RVDgurl]

Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff were undoubtedly 2 of the most important men in the wrestling business of the 90's but there was someone just a little more important: Paul Heyman. Professional wrestling as a whole was on the decline at the start of the decade. The WWE and WCW were able to enter the height of the wrestling business in the mid 90's because Paul Heyman lit the fire by creating ECW.
People can believe whichever side of the story they want, but by all accounts, McMahon and Bischoff robbed ECW blind. The WWE and WCW took as much of Heyman talents and creative ideas as they could- and it was a smart business move by both. However, Paul Heyman deserves credit where credit is due. He is the most important person of the wrestling business in the 90's.

 

[blackhart07]

Paul Heyman deserves more credit. He was a true pioneer in this business. He was went against every taboo in wrestling. He was counter culture, innovative, in your face action. He made so many stars and got so much out of his talent. He may not be the best business man, but he has a great mind. He cant create one hell of a story line, and would always give the people a great show. ECW was never a public company, never had a big wallet, didnt have cable 5 years after they got started, and barely had some tv shows. Weather you like Paul or hate him you have to respect what he did with such a limited frame of money and people constantly stealing his talent.

 

[klunderbunker]

Not to sound repetitive, but it has to be Vince. Without an evil Vince in 98-99, who would Austin have had to rebel against? Had that not happened, who knows what Monday nights would be like today? Without Austin it's almost a given that WWE would've died, and without Vince austin wouldn't been as huge as he was. I had to go with Vince, while giving respect to Heyman, who made a major company out of next to nothing, and Bischoff who had wwe dead in the water and let them go, but my vote still goes to Vince.

 

[bambam]

Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff were undoubtedly 2 of the most important men in the wrestling business of the 90's but there was someone just a little more important: Paul Heyman. Professional wrestling as a whole was on the decline at the start of the decade. The WWE and WCW were able to enter the height of the wrestling business in the mid 90's because Paul Heyman lit the fire by creating ECW.
People can believe whichever side of the story they want, but by all accounts, McMahon and Bischoff robbed ECW blind. The WWE and WCW took as much of Heyman talents and creative ideas as they could- and it was a smart business move by both. However, Paul Heyman deserves credit where credit is due. He is the most important person of the wrestling business in the 90's.

Heyman is a GENIUS! Heyman wins HANDS-DOWN! Vince and Bischoff had Great Talent, a TV deal, and PPV deals. WWE had Monday Night Raw, a PPV every month, and talent such as Undertaker, Austin, Shawn Michaels, in the Early 90's Bret Hart, Hogan, Savage, and The Warrior. And WCW had Nitro, took Hogan, Savage, Flair, Sting, and brought in the Outsiders. With all of that, Here comes this small company, NO NATIONAL TV DEAL( i'm sure they were on tv in Philly), NO PPV DEAL, And NO BIG NAME TALENT, and starts turning heads in the wrestling world. I remember hearing about ECW from my cousin who went to Philly on vacation, and called me to tell me about, and Bought me a tape. I WAS HOOKED FOR LIFE! I bought a new one almost every month.
ECW worked from the ground up, and mostly all if it, was Heymans ideas. He took a bingo hall in Philly, A list of "reject" stars, and made the #3 COMPANY in wrestling with no help! HE got the the PPV deals, HE got them the TV deal, He brought in NO NAME WRESTLERS and made them SUPERstars! HE brought in different Types of wrestling, when other wrestling companys were scared to. Lucha wrestling started in ECW! Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, and Chris Beniot all got the US starts in ECW. And the man behind getting them on American soil.........PAUL HEYMAN! WCW got scared and started STAELING THERE TALENT (Mike Awsome when he was still ECW CHAMPION to name just 1!) and both companys (WWE/WCW) got scared and made HARDCORE TITLES! With out Heymans Ideas, there is no ECW, There is no HARDCORE TITLES, There is no Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Chris Beniot, Dudley Boyz, Raven, Cactus Jack, ETC. Heyman is THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURE IN WRESTLING IN THE 90'S.........get ready for it................HANDS-DOWN!

Paul Heyman deserves more credit. He was a true pioneer in this business. He was went against every taboo in wrestling. He was counter culture, innovative, in your face action. He made so many stars and got so much out of his talent. He may not be the best business man, but he has a great mind. He cant create one hell of a story line, and would always give the people a great show. ECW was never a public company, never had a big wallet, didnt have cable 5 years after they got started, and barely had some tv shows. Weather you like Paul or hate him you have to respect what he did with such a limited frame of money and people constantly stealing his talent.

 

[midgensa]

Heyman gets my vote. I cannot even remember why ... but all of a sudden I cared about some company called ECW. Some small, half assed company the should not even compete with the two Billion dollar top dogs ... but here they were with young stars like Jericho and Beniot, ECW stars like Raven, Sandman and New Jack and turning into the DOMINANT stars like Rob Van Dam (who made the TV Title one of the top titles in the ENTIRE business, not just ECW), Mike Awesome and Taz ... this man came out of nowhere to compete with the big boys and the world of wrestling has NEVER ... eeeeeeeever ... been the same agaaaain.